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Merchant Of Venice By William Shakesphere M.O.V.
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ST. XAVIER’S HIGH SCHOOL, PANCHKULACLASS 10 SESSION 2023-24
MERCHANT OF VENICE ACT 4 SCENE 1
SETTINGS: This scene takes place in the Court of Venice. The Duke, Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano,
Shylock, Salerio, Portia and Nerissa (disguised as the lawyer and the clerk) are present in the scene along
with others.
EXPLANATION
The Duke, the magnificoes, ANTONIO, BASSANIO, GRATIANO, SALERIO, and attendants - All enter.
DUKE(Line 1) Well, Is Antonio here?
ANTONIO (2) Yes, sir, I’m here and ready, as you please.
DUKE (3-6) I feel sorry for you. You’ve come to face a ruthless enemy as stubborn as a rock, an inhuman
wretch incapable of pity, without any feelings of mercy.
ANTONIO (7-14) I have heard that you have tried your hardest to change his rigid mind. But since he
remains stubborn, and there’s no legal way to protect me from his malice, I’ll just meet his anger with
patience and suffer his tyranny and rage quietly.
DUKE (15) One of you go and tell the Jew to come to the court.
SALERIO (16) He’s standing ready outside the door. Here he comes, my lord.
SHYLOCK enters.
DUKE (17-35) Make room so that he can stand in front of me. Shylock, everyone thinks—and I think so too
—that you’re just pretending to be cruel. They think that you only carry this kind of malice to the very last
hour of action; and that at the last second you’re going to show mercy and pity, which will be more
surprising than the bizarre cruelty that you seem to be showing now. And even though you’re here to collect
the penalty—a pound of this poor merchant’s flesh—they think you’ll not only let it go, but out of humanity
and love you’ll forgive some portion of the principal he owes you too. In doing so you’ll be taking pity on
him for his many recent losses, which have been large enough to send even the greatest merchant out of
business, and make even the most hard-hearted Turk or Tartar feel sorry for him. What do you say? We all
expect a nice answer from you, Jew.
SHYLOCK (36-63) I’ve told you what I intend to do, and I’ve sworn by the holy Sabbath to seek the
penalty that is due according to our contract. If you refuse to allow me to do so, let the danger light on your
city charter and your city’s freedom. You ask me why I would rather choose to have a weight of dead flesh
than to receive three thousand dollars. I won’t answer that. Let’s just say it’s because I feel like it. Is that
enough of an answer? What if a rat troubles my house, and I am happy to give ten thousand dollars to have it
captured? What, aren’t you answered yet? There are some men that don’t love a dead pig; some that are
crazy if they see a cat; and others, when they hear the song of the bagpipe, cannot control themselves,
because sympathy, Mistress of passion, persuades passion to the mood of what it likes or hates. There’s no
sense trying to explain people’s likes and dislikes. So, to answer your question. Just as there’s no clear
reason why one man doesn’t want a roast pig, or why another man can’t stand a harmless and useful cat, or
why he can’t control himself when he hears a wailing bagpipe, only that he must yield by force to such
inevitable shame as to offend, himself being offended; can’t tolerate bagpipes, so I can’t give a reason, and I
won’t give a reason (other than the simple hate and loathing I feel for Antonio) why I’m pursuing this
unprofitable case against him. Does that answer your question?
BASSANIO (64-65) That’s no answer, you heartless man. It doesn’t excuse your cruel behavior.
SHYLOCK (66) I don’t have to give you answers that you like.
BASSANIO (67) Do all men kill the things they don’t love?
SHYLOCK (68) Does anyone hate something and not want to kill it?
BASSANIO (69) Disliking something isn’t the same thing as hating it.
SHYLOCK (70) What, would you let a snake bite you twice?
ANTONIO (71-84) (to BASSANIO) Please don’t bother arguing with the Jew. You might as well go stand
on the beach and ask the ocean to get smaller. You might as well ask a wolf why he killed the lamb and
made its mother cry. You might as well tell the pine trees on the mountain to stop waving their treetops
, when the storms blow through them. You might as well do the impossible rather than try to soften his Jewish
heart. It’s the hardest thing imaginable. Therefore I’m begging you, don’t make any more offers, don’t look
for other ways to stop him. Just let me receive my punishment, and let the Jew take his penalty.
BASSANIO (85) (to SHYLOCK) Instead of your three thousand ducats, here are six thousand.
SHYLOCK (86-88) If you offered me six times that, I wouldn’t accept it. I would choose to take my
penalty.
DUKE (89) How can you ever hope for mercy for yourself, when you don’t give any now?ll
SHYLOCK (90-104) Why should I be afraid of your judgment when I haven’t done anything wrong? Many
of you own slaves, which—like your donkeys and dogs and mules—you use to perform awful jobs just
because you bought them. Should I say to you, “Set them free! Let them marry your children! Why are you
making them work so hard? Let their beds be as soft as yours, and let them eat the same food as you”? No,
you’d answer, “The slaves are ours.” And that’s just how I’m answering you. The pound of flesh that I want
from him was very expensive. It’s mine and I’m going to get it. If you refuse me, the laws of Venice have no
validity. I await justice. So answer me. Will I get it?
DUKE(105-108) I have the authority to dismiss this court, unless Bellario comes today. He’s a legal expert
whom I have sent for to act as judge and help settle this matter.
SALERIO(109-111) My lord, there is a messenger waiting outside with letters from doctor Bellario, who
has just now arrived from Padua.
DUKE(112) Bring us the letters. Call the messenger in.
BASSANIO(113-115) Cheer up, Antonio! Keep up your courage, man! I’ll give the Jew my flesh, blood,
bones, and everything before you lose one drop of blood for me.
ANTONIO(116-120) I’m like the one sick sheep in the flock, most ready for death; the weakest kind of
fruit drops first to the ground, and so let me. You cannot be better employed, Bassanio, than to live on, and
write my epitaph.
NERISSA enters, disguised as a lawyer’s clerk.
DUKE(121) Have you come from Padua, from Bellario’s office?
NERISSA(122) From both, my lord. Bellario sends greetings to your Grace.
(She gives the DUKE a letter)
SHYLOCK sharpens his knife on the sole of his shoe.
BASSANIO(123) (to SHYLOCK) Why are you sharpening your knife so eagerly?
SHYLOCK(124) To cut my penalty from that bankrupt man over there.
GRATIANO(125-128) You make your knife sharp, not on the sole of your shoe, but on your soul, harsh
Jew, but no metal can, no, not the hangman’s axe, could ever be half as sharp as your hatred. Can’t any
prayers reach your heart?
SHYLOCK(129) No, none that you’re smart enough to make.
GRATIANO(130-140) Oh, you’re going to hell, you disgusting dog. And, for not killing you, let justice be
blamed. You almost make me forget that I’m a Christian. You make me want to agree with the philosopher
Pythagoras that the souls of animals send themselves into the bodies of men. Your dog-like spirit must have
been ruled by a wolf who was hanged for killing a human. When he died, his cruel soul passed out of his
body and went into yours while you were lying in your unholy mother’s womb. That’s why your desires are
wolfish, bloody, and hungry.
SHYLOCK(141-144) Unless your taunts can undo the signature on my contract, you’re just wearing out
your lungs by speaking so loud. Be quiet, boy, or you’ll lose your mind. I stand here with the law on my
side.
DUKE(145-147) This letter from Bellario recommends a young and learned doctor to our court. Where is
he?
NERISSA(148-149) He’s waiting nearby to find out if you’ll invite him in.
DUKE(150-152) With all my heart: some three or four of you go, give him courteous conduct to this place.
In the meantime, the court shall hear Bellario’s letter.
CLERK(153-170) Your Grace shall understand that, at the receipt of your letter, I am very sick; but, just as
your messenger came, a young doctor from Rome was visiting me; his name is Balthazar. I acquainted him
with the cause of the controversy between the Jew and Antonio the merchant; we looked over many books
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